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Analysis of Three Personalized Search Tools in Relation to Information Search: iGoogle, LeapTag, and Yahoo! MyWeb

Personalized search is becoming mainstream with the rollout of iGoogle®. While only beginning to impact consumers, these search tools require search experts to retool and rethink how they optimize websites. Three personalized search tools are analyzed to illustrate common features related to the information search stage of the consumer buying process (Kotler & Keller, 2006, p. 191). Conclusions provide a summary of potential SEO (search engine optimization) tactics and five key considerations.

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“ Personalized search is the fine-tuning of search results and advertising based on an individual’s preferences, demographic information and other factors. Presumably, the better a search engine understands a user’s interests and preferences, the better able it is to target search results, advertising, sponsored links, etc…” - Steve Johnson, CEO, ChoiceStream

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Why Should SEOs Care? <ul><li>Personalized search is becoming mainstream with the February 2007 rollout of iGoogle. </li></ul><ul><li>While only beginning to impact consumers, these search tools require search experts to retool and rethink how they optimize websites. </li></ul><ul><li>It will have a major impact on both consumers and search experts. </li></ul><ul><li>Prepare and plan now and be ahead of the competition. </li></ul>“ One of the biggest relevance advances in the past few years…personalization doesn't affect all results, but when it does it makes results dramatically better.” - Melissa Mayer, Google

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Personalized Search is Generating Debate in SEO Community <ul><li>Gord Hotchkiss leading proponent </li></ul><ul><li>Some think it will disrupt SEO practice </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Loosing control of ability to affect ranking </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>More work for SEOs </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Many SEOs are silent </li></ul><ul><li>Uncertain what it means, what to do </li></ul><ul><li>Privacy, opt-out issues tend to distract </li></ul><ul><li>More of an opportunity than a threat – Chris Boggs, Avenue A | Razorfish </li></ul>

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“ Google has created a tool that not only allows Google to spy on people but also allows people to spy on each other.” – Cunyet Özveren, CEO, LeapTag

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“ Through the actions we take in the digital world, we leave traces of our intent, and the more those traces become trails, the more strongly an engine might infer our intent given any particular query.” – John Battelle

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Five-stage buying process <ul><li>Kotler & Keller, in Marketing Management , describe a five-stage buying decision process that consumers go through (2006, p. 192). </li></ul><ul><li>Consumers who are more engaged or “aroused” during a search enter an “active information search” process where they gather information in a number of ways including web searches. </li></ul>Problem Recognition Information Search Evaluation of Alternatives Purchase Decision Postpurchase Behavior

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Five Key Considerations Supported by Search Expert Commentary <ul><li>Personalized search may shorten and improve the information search stage for consumers </li></ul><ul><li>Traditional SEO ability to influence PageRank™ will wane, but will still be important to generate a high volume of traffic. </li></ul><ul><li>Learn new skills and techniques from the realm of marketing research and user research . </li></ul><ul><li>Move towards “White Hat” tactics aimed at optimizing for users and their communities and the cascades of information that influence their buying decisions. </li></ul><ul><li>Adopt new SEO tactics aimed at personalized search engines </li></ul>

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1. Personalized search may improve the information search stage for consumers <ul><li>Consumers need tools that limit the number of options and filter the information (Schonfeld, 2006) that is presented. </li></ul><ul><li>“ [Web History] gives Google the ability to precisely target search results based on exactly what's happening to me right now” (Hotchkiss, 2007). </li></ul><ul><li>Google will recommend (push) sites as it becomes confident in disambiguating consumer intent (Hotchkiss, 2007). </li></ul>

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2. Traditional SEO ability to influence PageRank™ will wane, but will still be important to generate a high volume of traffic . <ul><li>’ One page fits all’ is now a thing of the past. (Wilson, 2007) </li></ul><ul><li>“ SEO’s are going to need to develop new measurements for their campaigns that reside outside of the direct ranking-reports of old. New strategies to tie sites together and ensure that websites are included in communities and that visitors react favorably to them are going to become increasingly important” (Davis, 2007). </li></ul><ul><li>Optimize for social-search sites. Social search sites achieve the “knock-on effect” of driving more traffic to the site thereby positively influencing ranking although this traffic is largely low quality. </li></ul><ul><li>“ Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community” is an important ranking factor (Fishkin, 2007). </li></ul><ul><li>“ Titles & Descriptions are crucial: You need the clickthrough more than ever. Clickthroughs get your site as seen as possibly important to a particular person's profile” (Sullivan, 2007). </li></ul>

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3. Learn new skills and techniques from the realm of marketing research and user research. <ul><li>“ Changes made to improve the visitor behavior on your website are going to increase conversions and keep the visitor there for longer periods of time” (Davies, 2007). </li></ul><ul><li>Search engines are beginning to look at the consumer’s behavior from the search engine to the target sites. Sites that fail to meet consumers’ information search needs will not rank as high in personalized search results. </li></ul><ul><li>“ Corny as it might sound, designing sites for users has never been more important for search marketers than it is today, if for no other reason than the single algorithm you're chasing now will soon be 500 million little ones” (Daffron, 2007). </li></ul>

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3. Learn new skills and techniques from the realm of marketing research and user research. <ul><li>‘ Make the information that a searcher is likely looking for when conducting a specific search easy to find” (Davies, 2007). </li></ul><ul><li>Learn to create synergy between marketing, user experience and SEO. </li></ul><ul><li>Partner with marketing and user experience teams. Identify the market and communities target customers are in. </li></ul><ul><li>Guide site owners through the process. </li></ul><ul><li>Build understanding of how high value users surf the Web and what they do on websites. (Davies, 2007). </li></ul>

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4. Move towards “White Hat” tactics aimed at optimizing for users and their communities and the cascades of information that influence their buying decisions. <ul><li>Use bookmarks whenever possible and specially if they are in communities </li></ul><ul><li>Get listed on Google Maps . </li></ul><ul><li>Optimize for local phrases </li></ul><ul><li>Pulling in traffic from social bookmarking sites and authority communities are great ways to help increase your visitor numbers from people interested in the topic of your site” (Davies, 2007). </li></ul><ul><li>Providing buttons to easily add a Google Gadget or Yahoo! Widget to a personalized home page </li></ul><ul><li>Encouraging users to subscribe to a blog or RSS enables feed. </li></ul><ul><li>Understand search patterns of targeted consumers. </li></ul><ul><li>Build links from topical communities. </li></ul>

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4. Move towards “White Hat” tactics aimed at optimizing for users and their communities and the cascades of information that influence their buying decisions. <ul><li>Get site added to social bookmarking sites. </li></ul><ul><li>Optimize for social network sites like: Digg , Del.icio.us , Reddit , </li></ul><ul><li>Establish a MySpace profile </li></ul><ul><li>Identify and engage with the blog influencers in your niche </li></ul><ul><li>Start blogging. </li></ul><ul><li>Institute a viral link building program to help propel your blog into circulation </li></ul><ul><li>Build a remarkable widget (Wilson, 2007) </li></ul>

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Contact Information <ul><li>Joel Tachau </li></ul><ul><li>Sr. Information Architect </li></ul><ul><li>Avenue A | Razorfish </li></ul><ul><li>[email_address] </li></ul><ul><li>Note: The researcher is an information architect on the User Experience team at Avenue A | Razorfish and is not part of the SEO or SEM team. </li></ul>